Thursday 22 May 2014

Reed Warbler Recovery

We have just received this recovery information of a reed warbler we ringed back in 2007. 


Sunday 18 May 2014

CES 2 -Things looking better - 16/5/2014

Lets hope I'm not getting ahead myself but I would like to optimistically say that CES numbers are improving, and lets hope this trend continues. With such a good weather forecast we were out for the second CES session of the year. Dave, Cedwyn and Chris were at the pool for 05:30. It was a glorious morning made all the better for the sound of half a dozen Lapwing calling and displaying over the flooded dune slacks. Whilst the ringing was slow the numbers were up on last year and a quick look at the figures show that the numbers have only once been better in the last 10 years. I may be looking for bright lights in a dark tunnel as the differences are very marginal (I'll leave the stats to those that know how to differentiate lies from damn lies), but lets be positive.

 



The first round of the morning was rewarded with a handful of Long-tailed Tits(8), all juvenile. One was carrying a caterpillar that may have been located by the parents, which were seen hanging around the nets carrying food.



Amongst the first of the migrants extracted was a Reed Warbler with a wing length of 70mm.










Whenever we catch a reed warbler like this one with a wing length around the 70mm mark, the marsh/reed warbler debate starts up again. This individual with its rufous-tinted rump and poorly marked primary tips is clearly a reed warbler.





The very pleasant mornings totals:




Sunday 4 May 2014

Migrant or Immigrant - Kenfig CES 1 - 4/5/14

The ringing season now gets into full swing with the start of CES (Constant Effort Site) monitoring. After the poor years we have had recently it was with a degree of concern that we anticipated the catch we may get. Dave, Chris, Wayne and Heather were involved in the first session of the season, with the standard 6x18m net runs in the ringing ride at the south west end of the pool. 



Cetti's Warbler Number 1

 


Some birds (right) were obviously as keen as the rest of us to get off to a good start with a Cetti's Warbler in the nets before we had fully opened them. It transpired that this bird had an interesting tail pattern (see below) which seemed to indicate that it was a first year bird with what looked like a fault bar.





Cetti's Tail showing Fault Bar


Blackcap


 Two more early arrivals.


Sedge Warbler





















The day became even more interesting with the arrival of two controls. They were a Chiffchaff with a UK ring on, and a Sedge Warbler which had a French ring on it. It was not singing so we could not detect any foreign accent but Wayne did think there may have been a hint of garlic. This was the second French bird ringed by members of the group in the last fortnight. Cedwyn had a Reed Warbler at Oxwich on the 25th April.



The total for the day was:



This was happily an improvement on last years CES 1 total of 15 birds so we can hopefully look forward to a better year.